'Avengers: Infinity War' Could Break 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Opening Weekend Record

Avengers: Infinity War is going to be a cosmic event involving a deadly alien despot and the Guardians of the Galaxy, but could its box office performance outshine event that of a galaxy far, far, away?

Box office projections increasingly suggest that it's possible. Avengers: Infinity War is already tracking well ahead of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and now it seems that the film could surpass even the record-breaking opening weekend box office performance of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Here's the update from Box Office Pro:

"Infinity War is redefining the ceiling of pre-release buzz for the superhero genre. Following last week's increase in tracking projections, Fandango reported a few days ago that the massively anticipated semi-finale to the last ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is outselling all MCU titles (dating back to 2015's Ant-Man) combined through the same point in the pre-sales cycle. Our own social media metrics continue to reach new heights for the genre, with Twitter activity notably performing 129 percent higher than Captain America: Civil War and 52 percent higher than Avengers: Age of Ultron at comparable points in the pre-release cycle. Outside the MCU, Infinity War is well ahead of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and approaching levels similar to those of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Marvel epic's chances at reaching that latter film's all-time opening weekend record of $247.97 million are increasingly possible based on current trends.

It looks like when Chris Pratt called Avengers: Infinity War the "biggest movie of all time," he wasn't kidding.

"Empire is right! So grateful to be part of #Marvel's 10 year cinematic reign," Pratt wrote. "[Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 writer-director] James Gunn called me last night floored after having seen the movie. I expected no less. I cant wait until I'm parked in front of the screen popcorn in hand. I'm so excited for the world to see what we've been cooking up. Im honored to be a part of what will be the biggest movie of all time."

Do you think Avengers: Infinity War will break Star Wars: The Force Awaken's opening weekend box office record? Let us know in the comments!

Avengers: Infinity War releases on April 27th. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.